June 26, 2026

Helene Cooper, et al., of the New York Times: “The U.S. military said it launched strikes on Iran on Friday in retaliation for an Iranian attack in the Strait of Hormuz a day earlier, hours after ... [Donald] Trump called the Iranian action a 'foolish violation' of the fragile cease-fire between the two countries. U.S. Central Command said in a statement that it had struck Iranian missile and drone storage locations and coastal radar sites as a 'powerful response' to the Iranian attack on Thursday. The extent of damage from the new U.S. strikes was not immediately clear. A U.S. defense official..., described the strikes as a retaliatory measure and not a restart of major combat operations. The strikes on Friday concluded after about 90 minutes, a U.S. official said, and included strikes by American fighter jets against four Iranian sites along the Strait of Hormuz and on Qeshm Island, a U.S. official said.” An NBC News story is here.

Marie: I guess I never properly appreciated Bob Ross.

~~~ It turns out the vandal who turned the Reflecting Pool Epstein green is named Donald J. Trump: ~~

~~~ Maxine Joselow & Luke Broadwater of the New York Times: “Before [a June 12 event to promote Donald Trump's Ultimate Fighting Championship birthday celebration], the National Park Service asked Greenwater Services, which won a $1.7 million no-bid contract to install the nanobubblers, to remove them.... The Park Service did not provide a reason for the removal [of the large, unsightly machines], but it coincided exactly with the promotional event, which drew crowds to the Reflecting Pool.... By the time the purification systems were reinstalled 36 hours later, enormous algae blooms were starting to spread unchecked, turning the water green. The ... Reflecting Pool ... stayed green and murky for about a week because of the residual chlorophyll — a highly visible symbol of one of Mr. Trump’s pet projects gone very wrong. The decision to remove the water-treatment systems ... was one of several missteps that have plagued Mr. Trump’s $16.4 million renovation of the Reflecting Pool.... In recent days, the water has become clear again....

“Mr. Trump has blamed vandals for the deteriorating conditions of the Reflecting Pool, saying they dumped fertilizer to feed the algae and slashed its blue coating with a 'sharp knife or razors.' The administration has asserted in court that there were cuts made to the caulk and 'surface material' of the pool.... [A New York Times review suggests] actions taken by the Trump administration and the companies involved caused disruptions at every turn.” The link appears to be a gift link. ~~~

~~~ David Fahrenthold, et al., of the New York Times go in search of evidence of Trump's claims that vandals caused all of the problems with the Reflecting Pool's resurfacing. 

Tyler Pager of the New York Times: Donald “Trump says he doesn’t care about the midterm elections. He says he doesn’t think much about Americans’ economic hardship resulting from the war in Iran. And now he is brushing off a landmark, bipartisan bill to lower housing costs in the United States, characterizing the legislation as a matter of 'minor importance.' At a moment of political peril for the president and Republicans, Mr. Trump’s priorities seem increasingly detached from the concerns of voters and his party. His focus is trained on his own obsessions and pet projects, including his expansive and costly renovations at the White House and around the nation’s capital, a topic that he returns to again and again.... Perhaps the most telling example came on Wednesday, when Mr. Trump refused to sign the housing bill until Republicans passed legislation that he cared about more: the SAVE America Act. Mr. Trump contends the bill would address his claims of widespread election fraud, which have repeatedly been debunked.” 

Ari Hawkins & Cheyanne Daniels of Politico: “... Donald Trump on Friday threatened a 100 percent tariff on European countries that impose digital service taxes on American corporations. In a post to social media, the president said 'numerous European countries' are discussing or 'close to actually doing this.' 'Please let this statement serve to represent that any Country that imposes such a Tax will immediately be met with a 100% TARIFF on any and all Goods sent to the United States of America,' Trump said. 'This TARIFF will supersede Trade Deals made with the Country, whether implemented, signed, or not. Additionally, the 100% TARIFF will be immediately imposed, if they proceed.' Taxes on online services are frequently imposed to combat the outside influence of Big Tech and frequently target large U.S. companies such as Apple, Amazon and Meta. Trump’s promise to raise tariffs threatens to complicate trade talks with the European Union.”

Whitewashing Nixon. Garrett Graff on JayDee's admiration for Richard Nixon. The whole essay is worth reading.

Aishvarya Kavi & Devlin Barrett of the New York Times: “John R. Bolton, a former top adviser to ... [Donald] Trump who became one of his most outspoken critics, pleaded guilty on Friday to mishandling classified information in a case that could send him to prison for up to five years. Mr. Bolton, appearing in Federal District Court in Greenbelt, Md., admitted to a single charge of illegal retention of classified information over notes he compiled for a book that excoriated Mr. Trump. 'I’m sorry for it,' he told Judge Theodore Chuang, who set a sentencing date for Oct. 28. Under the terms of the plea deal, Mr. Bolton must also pay a fine of $2.25 million and will forfeit his federal pension. Court documents suggest he is likely to receive close to the maximum sentence — five years — under federal guideline calculations that the judge could still alter.” Update: the link has been changed to one that appears to be a gift link. An AP report is here. Related WashPo story linked below.

Douglas MacMillan & Jonathan O'Connell of the Washington Post: “Facing lawsuits, protests and opposition from local officials nationwide, the Trump administration is scaling back its plan to convert warehouses into immigrant detention centers, with the Department of Homeland Security’s top leader acknowledging the effort lacked proper planning. In testimony before the House of Representatives on Thursday, DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin said his department is evaluating all 11 warehouses it purchased this year for about $1 billion to decide where it makes sense for the government to proceed with the conversions.... Despite Mullin’s critique of the plan, DHS has not fully abandoned it. At buildings in Maryland and Arizona, DHS has hired private contractors to oversee development and operations. And as recently as last month, the department was preparing to award contracts to oversee construction and operations at warehouses in San Antonio and near El Paso, The Washington Post has reported.”

Kate Shaw, in a New York Times op-ed, wonders why the Supreme Court, and Chief Justice Roberts in particular, are awarding Donald Trump extraordinary powers. She posits, “Aspiring autocrats and authoritarians often seek to marginalize not just the law but also courts. And perhaps John Roberts has seen this potential, has grasped it and has maneuvered in hopes of avoiding it. The problem is that he has wildly empowered Mr. Trump, and betrayed core constitutional values, along the way.” MB: Shaw, IMO, is being generous. I think the whole lot of them are white Christian nationalists, & that includes Clarence Thomas, who pretends to be white, and Amy Phony Barrett, who has two Black children. 

Dareh Gregorian of NBC News: “The District of Columbia has settled a lawsuit by a protester who said he was detained and handcuffed for following National Guard troops around the city while playing Darth Vader’s theme song from 'Star Wars.' The terms of the agreement were not immediately disclosed, but the American Civil Liberties Union, which represents demonstrator Sam O’Hara in the case, said in a press release that he was receiving compensation.” ~~~

China. Keith Bradsher, et al., of the New York Times: “A small aircraft flew into the tallest building in Beijing on Friday, sending huge hunks of debris and plane parts plummeting onto the streets below and prompting crowds to flee. Video shared on social media and verified by The New York Times showed debris falling from the skyscraper, as people ran to safety. The footage showed broken windows and debris, including what appeared to be the tail of a small aircraft, falling dozens of stories into the street below. The building is in the capital’s busy central business district, which was clogged with cars at evening rush hour. It was not immediately clear how many people were injured, if any were. The whereabouts and identity of the pilot were also unknown. Photos posted to social media from the site showed parts of an aircraft that appeared to be a lightweight model with only a few seats, registered to the airline Shuangyue General Aviation, a regional flight training provider. Calls to the company went unanswered.”

Ukraine/Russia. Mary Ilyushina of the Washington Post: “Authorities in occupied Crimea, the Black Sea peninsula that Russia annexed illegally from Ukraine in 2014, declared a state of emergency Friday following weeks of punishing Ukrainian drone strikes. The Russian Defense Ministry said its air defenses intercepted 660 Ukrainian drones overnight across 13 regions, including Crimea. The peninsula, which Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has vowed to reclaim, has become the centerpiece of Kyiv’s campaign to demonstrate the reach of its increasingly advancing medium-range drone capabilities. The Ukrainian military last month announced a 'logistics lockdown' of Crimea, with plans to 'systematically destroy Russian logistics, warehouses, equipment, command posts and supply routes at operational depth.' In the weeks since, Ukrainian forces have targeted roads, bridges and energy infrastructure to sever the peninsula from Russia and from Russian-occupied territories in eastern Ukraine.” An AP report is here.

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Peter Eavis, et al., of the New York Times: “Iran’s armed forces struck a container ship that was passing through the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday, according to U.S. and Iranian officials, undermining efforts to restore shipping traffic through the crucial waterway. The attack came hours after Iran, demonstrating its hold over the strait, had warned ships that the only route through the vital pathway for oil and natural gas was through its waters. Many ships had been using a route on the southern side of the strait, hugging the Omani coast. The strike halted traffic through the crucial waterway, contradicting ... [Donald] Trump’s claim that Iran did not control the strait and his assurances that it was open once again to shipping. Oil prices jumped after the attack.... A U.S. official, who spoke anonymously in order to share details of the strike, said the vessel had been hit by a drone. The attack prompted the International Maritime Organization, a United Nations agency, to suspend its plan to evacuate seafarers from hundreds of ships that had been stranded in the Persian Gulf.” The AP's story is here.

Helene Cooper & Farah Stockman of the New York Times: Donald “Trump and senior Pentagon officials sought to solve the country’s munitions shortage by approaching the problem from two directions in meetings this week. They urged defense companies to speed up production of depleted weapons systems. And they pushed lawmakers to approve additional money to pay for the war against Iran, which helped to deplete munitions. It is likely to be an uphill battle. In a meeting at the White House on Wednesday, defense companies told Mr. Trump that they wanted more money to fund expanding production.... Mr. Trump, one ... [official] said, was more conciliatory than he has been in past meetings with the companies and told them that his administration was working to secure more funding. But his request for $70 billion to pay for the war is expected to face stiff opposition in Congress. The proposal needs bipartisan support in the Senate to advance, and nearly all Democrats have said they will not vote to fund a conflict they oppose.... The Pentagon’s ability to prosecute future wars ... could be hobbled by a munitions shortage that might take years to reverse.”

Erica Green of the New York Times: “Former President Barack Obama said he believes ... [Donald] Trump’s attacks on him are 'an obsession' and that Mr. Trump 'knows better' than to insult him to his face. In an interview released Wednesday on All The Smoke podcast, Mr. Obama was asked how he continues to 'take the high road' under Mr. Trump’s unrelenting, yearslong preoccupation with him and his family. 'Look, you got to ask him what it is — the obsession,' Mr. Obama told the podcast hosts, former NBA players Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson. 'I obviously, you know, have a room in his head — a suite — in his head.'” ~~~

     ~~~ Marc Elias does a much better job of calling out Trump -- and the media -- for Trump's lies and lawbreaking. ~~~

~~~ Marc Elias of Democracy Docket: "Donald Trump visited a Mack Trucks facility in Macungie, Pennsylvania, this week.... Trump predictably wandered from topic to topic, leaving a trail of lies, distortions and incoherent rants. We have come to ... expect him to make up facts and defame his political opponents. Most importantly, we know that he will lie about elections and make false claims of election fraud. But this normalization comes at a steep price for democracy.... If Trump is to be believed, the Republican candidate [for California governor] was set to lose an election, the president personally called the top federal prosecutor in Los Angeles, who in turn called the state, and the result was a change in election results in favor of the Republican. The last part of this telling is clearly fabricated.... If [the rest of Trump's story is] correct [as it likely is], it represents an abuse of executive power to achieve a partisan political objective — a serious national scandal that implicates the president, federal prosecutors, and potentially others.... [Yet t]he same reporters who thought it was a scandal when former President Bill Clinton briefly boarded Attorney General Loretta Lynch’s plane on a Phoenix tarmac in 2016 – to make small talk about grandchildren and golf – are now entirely mute.”

Catherine Rampell in the Bulwark: "THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION HAS MADE clear that it wishes to purge America of some of its undesirables. That includes, for instance, deporting 100 million people (a third of the population). But for those he can’t expel, he hopes to simply hide away. Last week the Department of Justice published a memo authorizing states to institutionalize more people with disabilities. This basically means plucking more people out of society and shutting them into nursing homes, psychiatric hospitals, segregated schools, and sheltered workshops, rather than funding community- or home-based care where they have more autonomy." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Rampell is right. The effort to institutionalize more disabled people is part of Trump's utopian fantasy, in which the only people who are full citizens are wealthy, healthy, white, Christianish Republicans who cherish him. The irony is that Trump's utopian reverie is imploding: Trump himself is rapidly becoming among the disabled. Today, he cannot stand unaided, he needs help mounting and descending stairs. He constantly falls asleep in public, he cannot speak in complete, coherent sentences, his vocabulary has become limited and he often seems confused. ~~~

     ~~~ BTW, in yesterday's Comments, RAS linked a Bloomberg Law firewalled story that fingers Stephen Miller as the guiding had behind the move to push disabled people into the shadows.

Even difficult technical problems can be managed -- if Donald Trump and his incompetent, crooked cronies are not involved. ~~~

~~~ Katherine Tully-McManus of Politico: “... just a mile-and-a-half down the National Mall [from the Lincoln Reflecting Pool]..., another reflecting pool floats just under Capitol Hill — and under the radar — without a scummy green film floating on top. As the algae-tinged drama has played out at the Lincoln Memorial, little attention has been paid to its sister pond which is slightly smaller, more obscure and managed by a different entity — the Architect of the Capitol, not the National Park Service. Both are expensive and challenging to maintain, but the trapezoid-ish Capitol Reflecting Pool hasn’t faced the same intractable problems that have plagued the long and skinny pool to the west.... There is no evidence that the National Park Service or White House sought the AOC’s expertise with reflecting pool maintenance before embarking on the recent renovations [to the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool]....”

Fractured History, by JayDee. Dan Diamond of the Washington Post: “Vice President JD Vance on Thursday expressed sympathy for former president Richard M. Nixon, suggesting that Nixon was wrongly forced out as president in 1974 and comparing his political travails decades ago to those facing ... Donald Trump now. 'As I joked … backstage, if Watergate happened tomorrow, it would be like a 12-hour news story,' Vance said in remarks at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum in California. 'The idea that it would have taken down a presidency is crazy.'... Historians said Thursday that the full scope of the Watergate scandal, ranging from the president’s efforts to apply pressure to his 'enemies list' to asking for a census of Jewish Americans serving in government because he believed they were unpatriotic, revealed Nixon’s abuses of presidential power. Vance 'should know better as a well-educated lawyer,' said Timothy Naftali, a previous director of the Nixon library....” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Sorry, but JayDee is so ignorant and stupid, no team of professors can fix it.

Association of American Medical Colleges in Axios: "A seismic shift has been proposed for federal grantmaking that would fundamentally alter how billions of dollars in federal funding are awarded across the United States, with far-reaching implications for grant-supported programs, services and organizations nationwide and the communities they serve.... The White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has proposed sweeping revisions to the 'Uniform Guidance,' the federal government's primary framework for administering grants. The revisions could reduce the role of expert review in funding decisions and give greater weight to politically-motivated decisions. This proposed guidance would become mandatory regulation for every federal agency." 

Josh Gerstein & Kyle Cheney of Politico: “The Justice Department has effectively conceded it is violating the law Congress passed last November requiring the public release of the vast majority of records relating to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, a federal judge declared Thursday. U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan said Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche essentially admitted the violations by failing to address allegations from independent journalist Katie Phang in a lawsuit seeking broader access to the records — including allegations against ... Donald Trump.... Sullivan also issued a preliminary injunction that gives Blanche a week to release certain names and other information redacted by DOJ from the millions of pages of the Epstein files, or provide a more detailed explanation for withholding them. Records subject to Sullivan’s order include notes of FBI interviews with a woman who has alleged that in the 1980s, when she was about 13, Epstein introduced her to Trump, who in turn assaulted her.” ~~~

~~~ Joyce Vance on Substack: “Today, 101 former judges filed a complaint, asking the New York State Bar Attorney Grievance Commission to 'initiate an investigation into Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche ... for violation of the New York Rules of Professional Conduct.'... There are three grounds for the request: The role Blanche played in the settlement of Trump v. I.R.S., which the referral calls 'fundamentally incompatible with his ethical obligations under the New York Rules of Professional Responsibility.'... Blanche’s abuse of his authority at DOJ against personal and political enemies of his former client, Donald Trump.... Blanche’s 'personal involvement in overseeing the Department of Justice’s botched and incomplete release of documents related to Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell under the Epstein Files Transparency Act (EFTA).'... The allegations against Blanche are unusual because of their seriousness — they stem from allegations that he is using his role at DOJ to continue to protect his former criminal defendant client, who is now the president of the United States.” Thanks to RAS for the link.

The Constitution does not grant the President any specific powers over elections. -- Federal District Judge Indira Talwani, decision ~~~

~~~ Nick Corasaniti & Adam Sella of the New York Times: “A federal court in Massachusetts struck down crucial components of an executive order from ... [Donald] Trump that sought to place significant restrictions on mail voting as 'unlawful, null, and void.' The order had, in part, tried to use federal oversight of the U.S. Postal Service to regulate mail voting. The ruling from Judge Indira Talwani amounted to a broad rejection of the Trump administration’s attempts to change federal election procedures through an executive order, repeatedly emphasizing that the Constitution grants authority over elections not to the executive branch but to individual states and Congress. 'The Constitution does not grant the President any specific powers over elections,' Judge Talwani wrote, adding emphasis by underlining the words 'does not.' More than 20 Democratic attorneys general representing states across the country brought the legal challenge in federal court in Massachusetts.” Thanks to RAS for the lead. (Also linked yesterday.)

Administration Teleports Official Out of FEMA. Brianna Sacks of the Washington Post: “A high-ranking official at the Federal Emergency Management Agency who sparked controversy for claiming that millions of people voted illegally in the 2016 election and that he once teleported to a Waffle House has gone on leave, agency officials confirmed Thursday. Gregg Phillips, who was tapped to head the Office of Response and Recovery in December, has been asked to step away from his role because of concerns about how he’s publicly perceived.... The move marks the latest shake-up for an agency that has undergone extensive cuts and leadership changes since ... Donald Trump took office.” A Mediaite item is here.

Katie Mettler of the Washington Post: “John Bolton, who served as ... Donald Trump’s national security adviser before becoming a vocal critic, is expected to plead guilty in federal court Friday to one count of retaining sensitive government information — a deal that could come with far less potential prison time than if he’d gone to trial and lost. The admission would be a black mark on the legacy of a public servant whose career has spanned several presidential administrations, and deliver a victory to a Justice Department focused on prosecuting Trump’s political foes.... Bolton has also agreed to pay a fine of $2.25 million, The Washington Post has previously reported.”

Michael Gold of the New York Times: “Speaker Mike Johnson said on Thursday that he would send to ... [Donald] Trump a bipartisan housing bill cleared by Congress, despite the president’s decision a day earlier to scrap a much-anticipated signing ceremony for the measure. Mr. Trump has yet to commit to signing the legislation, which he has diminished as being 'of minor importance' even as members of his own party have celebrated it as a crucial victory that can lower housing costs. Mr. Johnson’s announcement came after he had a lengthy meeting with Mr. Trump at the White House. Sending the president a bill that has passed both chambers of Congress is normally a routine and unremarkable step. But it has taken on outsize significance given Mr. Trump’s reluctance to enact the housing measure, which his party badly wants to promote ahead of midterm congressional elections in which their control of Congress is in peril.” The Washington Post's story -- which makes Mikey the hero who saved Congress from Trump -- is here.

Ann Marimow of the New York Times: “In a pair of sharply divided decisions on Thursday, the Supreme Court allowed ... [Donald] Trump’s aggressive crackdown on immigration to move forward, permitting the administration to expel hundreds of thousands of migrants from the country and to turn away others at the southern border. Taken together, the court’s conservative majority signaled deference to the president’s ability to set the nation’s immigration policy, as the justices prepare in the coming days to issue more rulings that will decide how much power to give Mr. Trump across his boundary-pushing agenda.” The link appears to be a gift link. ~~~

     ~~~ Robert Reich: "Markwayne Mullin vs. Al Otro Lado concerns a 1917 law that requires immigration officers to inspect noncitizens who arrive at ports of entry to determine whether they may enter the United States. Congress amended the law in the Refugee Act of 1980 to allow noncitizens fleeing persecution in their home country to apply for asylum as part of this inspection process. The Act lays out a required set of procedures to guide this process.... But [Thursday], the Supreme Court’s majority held that a president may circumvent these requirements simply by having U. S. immigration officers stand at the border and physically block noncitizens from setting foot on U. S. soil — even if the asylum seeker is certain to be persecuted, or killed, if she is turned away.... The Supreme Court ignored [the 1980 Refugee Act]....

"The other decision released today, Markwayne Mullin vs. Dahlia Doe, concerns another law, part of the Immigration Act of 1990 called Temporary Protected Status.... [Thursday], the Supreme Court’s majority held that federal courts may not review the Secretary of Homeland Security’s compliance with that law. But in fact the Immigration Act of 1990 specifically allows judicial review of whether the Secretary adhered to the procedures the law requires — exactly what the plaintiffs disputed.... This ... is a systemic effort by the six Republican appointees on the court to shrink congressional authority and enlarge the authority of the executive branch.... The Supreme Court is part of the anti-democracy movement led by Trump and the billionaires behind him." ~~~

     ~~~ White Supremacists Rule. José Olivares of the Guardian: “Lawmakers and immigration advocacy groups on Thursday sharply denounced two US supreme court rulings that allowed the Trump administration to strip certain immigration protections and fundamentally reshape the asylum system. Dozens of groups, advocates and members of Congress called the court’s decisions 'disastrous' and 'cruel', while the Trump administration, Republican lawmakers and anti-immigrant groups celebrated the rulings. 'Today, Trump’s loyalists in the supreme court have joined forces with him to deny immigrants’ internationally recognized human rights and advance an authoritarian, white-supremacist agenda at home,' said the Illinois congresswoman Delia Ramirez, a Democrat. 'The supreme court’s decisions put more than 350,000 TPS holders at risk of deportation and countless more asylum seekers’ lives in danger.'”

Everybody Out! Ann Marimow of the New York Times: “The Supreme Court on Thursday allowed the Trump administration to end humanitarian protections that have permitted hundreds of thousands of people from Haiti and Syria to live and work legally in the United States.... [Donald] Trump has pushed to terminate the program, known as Temporary Protected Status, as part of his broader crackdown on immigration. The program was created by Congress with bipartisan support in 1990 to provide temporary legal status to people whose home countries were deemed unsafe because of war, natural disasters or other crises. The court’s 6-to-3 decision on Thursday, divided along ideological lines, clears a path for the potential deportation of 350,000 Haitians and 6,100 Syrians, and it is likely to have implications for T.P.S. holders from about a dozen other countries. The ability of the government to quickly expel individuals who previously had protections will depend on whether they already have deportation orders pending. In many instances, T.P.S. holders have not received such orders, which will allow them some ability to contest their removal from the country.” Politico's report, by Josh Gerstein, is here. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Confederate Supremes Pretend Trump Is Not Racist. Adam Liptak of the New York Times: “In ruling that ... [Donald] Trump could deport some 350,000 Haitians, the Supreme Court’s conservative majority first had to determine whether race had played a role in his decision to remove the humanitarian protections that had shielded them.... Writing for the majority, Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. concluded that Mr. Trump’s many statements about Haitians were not 'overtly racial,' and that it was unlikely that race had been a motivating factor in the administration’s decision to end the protections. He was joined by the court’s five other Republican appointees. What Justice Alito did not do was set out a single example of those statements. In dissent, Justice Elena Kagan was incredulous.... The most telling aspect of Justice Alito’s majority opinion, Justice Kagan said, was that he could not bring himself to quote a single example of Mr. Trump’s statements about Haiti and Haitians. Mr. Trump’s remarks were 'so repellent and racially inflected that the majority declines to put them in print,' she wrote. She filled the gap by setting down a litany of statements by Mr. Trump about Haiti and its people.” ~~~

     ~~~ Jazmine Ulloa, et al., of the New York Times: “T.P.S. holders are scrambling to find other forms of immigration protection. Many have already been applying for asylum, work visas or other types of authorization to live and work in the United States. But the pathways are narrow, and petitions can take years to process. For many, the path to asylum will be an uphill battle, if it is viable at all. Immigrants must petition for that relief within a year of arrival, and qualifications are rigid. The Trump administration has restricted eligibility and pressured immigration judges to deny the claims. They are granting asylum in less than 10 percent of cases, far lower even than in Mr. Trump’s first term. Instead, many T.P.S. holders must decide whether to make exit plans or remain without authorization.... U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers will be able to place in removal proceedings any T.P.S. holders whose protections have expired or ended.... Employers ... will have to fire Haitian and Syrian workers whose sole authority to work comes through the program.” ~~~

     ~~~ Maria Sacchetti & Lauren Gurley of the Washington Post: “Immigrants began making plans to sell or rent their homes, secure bank accounts and figure out thorny issues like child custody arrangements. Business owners started calculating how many days they can continue to employ workers whose legal status is set to expire. And nursing home leaders warned they would have fewer beds to offer if health aides are forced to leave the country. Panic rippled through communities from Florida to Ohio and beyond in the hours after the Supreme Court cleared the Trump administration Thursday to strip humanitarian protections from Haitians and Syrians — and potentially all 1.3 million immigrants from over a dozen countries who had been previously shielded from deportation.... Attorneys said Haitians and Syrians could lose work permits in little more than a month, but the deadline remained unclear because lower court judges must issue orders to implement the decision. Stephen Miller, the White House deputy chief of staff, told reporters Thursday that Haitians and others with temporary protected status should be detained and deported once they lose the benefit.”

We Hear You Knockin' But You Can't Come In. Ann Marimow of the New York Times: “The Supreme Court on Thursday said the Trump administration can turn away migrants seeking asylum along the U.S.-Mexico border by physically preventing them from crossing into the United States as they seek protection from persecution. The administration had asked the court to permit the government to revive a policy, first used in 2016, as part of ... [Donald] Trump’s immigration crackdown. Under that so-called turn-back policy, the government had stopped asylum seekers from setting foot on U.S. soil, where federal law would have entitled them to try to claim asylum and receive protections.The statute at issue says any noncitizen who is 'physically present in the United States' or 'arrives in the United States' can apply for asylum.... A major question in the case was what it meant to 'arrive' in the United States. In its 6-to-3 ruling, the court said noncitizens must fully cross the border to gain the right to apply for asylum. The court’s conservative majority said migrants standing in Mexico do not 'arrive' by 'attempting, and failing, to set foot in this country.' The three liberal justices disagreed, with Justice Sonia Sotomayor reading a summary of her dissent from the bench.” Politico's report, by Josh Gerstein, is here. (Also linked yesterday.)

Abbie VanSickle of the New York Times: “The Supreme Court on Thursday struck down a Hawaii law that required gun owners to get permission before carrying a firearm onto private property like grocery stores, coffee shops and gas stations that are otherwise open to the public. The case is the latest victory for gun rights advocates before the court since the justices decided in the 2022 landmark Second Amendment ruling in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen that Americans have a broad right to arm themselves in public. In a 6-to-3 decision, split along ideological lines, the court’s conservative majority held that Hawaii’s gun restriction violated the Second Amendment’s protections.”  Politico's report, by Josh Gerstein, is here. (Also linked yesterday.)

Abbie VanSickle of the New York Times: “The Supreme Court on Thursday sided with the manufacturer of the weedkiller Roundup, overturning a jury award for a Missouri man who claimed the widely used herbicide caused cancer in a decision that could have sweeping impacts on thousands of other Americans who similarly claim the product sickened them. In the 7-to-2 decision, written by Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh, the majority found that a federal law that regulates pesticides barred the Missouri man’s lawsuit. Justice Kavanaugh wrote that the Missouri case would 'require a cancer warning on Roundup’s label,' which would directly conflict with the label required by the federal Environmental Protection Agency. Because of this conflict, he wrote, federal law 'expressly pre-empts' the Missouri man’s claim.” (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Pamela King & Marcia Brown of Politico: “The Supreme Court has dealt a devastating blow to the Make America Healthy Again Movement by blocking a path for users of the popular Roundup weedkiller to secure payouts from Monsanto for failing to disclose the product’s cancer risk.” (Also linked yesterday.)

Yesterday (and today, according to Wikipedia) marks the 150th anniversary of Custer's Last Stand. Heather Cox Richardson tells the story of what led to the Battle of the Little Big Horn.

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Texas. Sarah Mervosh of the New York Times: “Texas is on the verge of passing a sweeping, new state book list, which will establish for the first time a common set of books that millions of students across the state must read, including excerpts from the Bible. It is highly unusual — perhaps unprecedented — for a state, rather than a school or a teacher, to mandate a reading list for every grade level for all public school students. If approved, the list will shape what a generation of Texas students grows up reading. The state is home to more than five million public school students, 11 percent of the total U.S. public school population. The list was being debated by the Texas State Board of Education this week. It is expected to be approved on Friday.” The link appears to be a gift link. An AP report is here.

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Venezuela. The New York Times is liveblogging developments in the aftermath of two catastrophic earthquakes. From the pinned item at 5:40 am ET: “At least 235 people died and more than 4,300 people were injured after the dual quakes on Wednesday, Carlos Alvarado, the health minister, said on Thursday. More than 200 people were trapped under the rubble and another 157 people were missing, Jorge Rodríguez, the president of Venezuela’s national assembly, said earlier.... More international rescue teams were arriving in Venezuela early Friday to join the urgent effort to retrieve survivors and bodies from the rubble....”